Conductor Jonathan Khuner resides in Berkeley, but works at the major opera companies across the USA. He has been Musical Director of (Berkeley) West Edge Opera in the East Bay since 1985, and was its artistic director between 1994 and 2009. He has led over sixty-five productions there, most recently Britten’s Turn of the Screw and Barber’s Vanessa in 2013. In 2014 Khuner will be musical director for 5 West Edge productions. His main posts are as Conductor and prompter for San Francisco Opera (since 1981), the Metropolitan Opera (since 1997), and the Lyric Opera of Chicago (since 1995). In 1996 he was also the prompter for the Ring Cycle at the Bayreuther Festspiele. In the Wagner bicentennial year 2013, he conducted a mini-Ring-Cycle for Minnesota Concert Opera, and also the nation of Albania’s first ever Wagner production – Tannhäuser, at their National Opera in Tirana. Besides appearing frequently as guest conductor with various California opera companies, Khuner also initiated an opera workshop performance course for the University of California at Berkeley (2001 – 2004). More recently he has been a frequent speaker for the San Francisco Opera’s outreach programs. Last season he gave the pre-curtain talks on The Capulets and the Montagues; in the upcoming season he will be Opera Guild lecturer on Ballo in Maschera.